Novella Carpenter with thousands of dollars in fines if she continues to sell produce from her backyard

Oakland’s building department, which has been threatening author Novella Carpenter with thousands of dollars in fines if she continues to sell produce from her backyard without a permit (which also could run several thousand dollars).

Carpenter figures she takes in about $2,500 a year from the sale of excess produce from her 4,500-square-foot “urban farm” at 28th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

Oakland City Hall seems to have a little trouble with rationality when it comes to urban agriculture. This is the city that wanted to sanction a couple of supersize marijuana growing operations until it became clear that these indoor factories would be in open defiance of federal law – and would expose elected officials to legal liability.

Perhaps Carpenter is growing the wrong crop for City Hall’s taste – or maybe its real objection is that it’s not getting a cut of the action.

Oakland City Hall surely must have more pressing priorities than pursuing Novella Carpenter for selling a little chard on the side.

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